[0:12] Good. Yes, sir. Madam cler,

[0:23] if you can please, sir. You want to please go ahead.

[0:28] God, you're good, too. We just ask that you watch over us, God. We ask that you

[0:31] watch over this town, God. We ask that you give us discernment and decisions

[0:35] for this town. God, we love you. We thank you. We ask all this in Jesus

[0:38] name. Amen. >> Amen.

[0:40] » Mr. McGee, can you lead us in the pledge, please?

[0:43] » I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:48] republic for it stands. One nation, indivisibley

[0:55] for all. >> Thank you.

[1:03] Madam clerk, if you could please conduct their roll call name.

[1:07] » Alderman Doug Adams. >> Commissioner Adams is going to be asking

[1:12] tonight. >> Alderman Matthew Kenny

[1:15] » presc.

[1:21] » Alderman Jordan >> here.

[1:24] » Alderman Mike R. Present. >> Mayor Hunter Tim

[1:28] » present. >> Town attorney Neil Earl

[1:31] » here.

[1:34] » Council, first up, we'll have approval of minutes. This is the approval of

[1:37] minutes from September 9th, 2025 regular council meeting at this time. Is there

[1:42] any comment from the public? Is there any comment from the council

[1:49] council? At this time, I'll entertain a motion.

[1:57] I have a motion for Mr. Kenny and a second from Mr. Jordan Shrink. Council

[2:02] at this time, please cast your votes.

[2:06] » I

[2:09] motion carries. Continuing on to old business, council, you will have accept

[2:15] reject the budget and financial statements for August 2025. Is there any

[2:19] comment from the public on this matter? Seeing none, is there any comment from

[2:24] the council?

[2:28] Also none. Council, at this time, I will entertain a motion.

[2:33] Make a motion to accept the financial budget for the month of August 2025.

[2:40] » Second. I have a motion, Mr. Reigns and a second for Mr. McGee. Council, this

[2:45] time, please cast your business. I >> carries. Council, we'll be continuing on

[2:51] the new business. At this time, you are uh in the possession of the current

[2:56] budgeted financial statements for September 2025.

[3:00] Continuing on, we'll have accept or reject the amended ordinance for 2025.

[3:06] This is an amendment to the introduced ordinance amending article two of

[3:10] chapter 24 of the town of hobby code ordinance to include a fireworks clause

[3:15] aim to correct clerical and formatting issues related to the noise regulation

[3:20] provisions. Is there any comment from the public on this matter?

[3:26] Seeing none, is there any comment from the council?

[3:31] » Also none council at this time I will entertain a motion. Make a motion to

[3:41] » I have a motion and a sec a second for accepting the amended ordinance for

[3:46] 2025. Council at this time, please cast your votes. [clears throat]

[3:50] » I I carries. Continuing on, we have accept

[3:56] or reject ordinance for 2025. This is an ordinance amending the

[4:01] article two of chapter 24 of the town of Hoffman code ordinance to provide scope

[4:05] purpose and general definitions as well as exemptions in relation to noise

[4:08] regulations. This will be as amended based on your previous vote council. Is

[4:13] there any comment from the public on this matter?

[4:19] Seeing none, is there any comment from the council?

[4:23] » Also none. Council at this time I will entertain a motion. Make a motion to

[4:27] accept ordinance 4 2025. Second. >> Have a motion and a second.

[4:33] Council at this time. Please cast your votes.

[4:36] » I I >> Continuing on, we'll have accept reject

[4:41] resolution 29 to 2025. This is a resolution authorizing the town of Hall

[4:45] to enter into a software as service agreement with my government online,

[4:51] also known as DGO. Uh at this time, I'll call Mr. Dis our town administrator up

[4:55] here to give a little bit of context and depth to this resolution.

[5:02] » Good evening council. So this year it's for NGO. Uh it's

[5:07] actually software as a service. It's done through

[5:11] an actual government agency um which affords us opportunity to have them at a

[5:16] much lower rate. This is going to be used for online permitting processes.

[5:22] Right now, if you go to Boer Parish and you're, you know, applying for a permit

[5:25] for anything, um, building out the, um, well, anywhere in the parish right now,

[5:30] this is the same software that you use. There's a big push to send it out across

[5:34] the state and, uh, get everybody on board with it. We have our permitting

[5:39] office that's moving in house in January. Then we need to uh, make sure

[5:43] that we have the software already in place, up and running before that date.

[5:47] So, this will not give us three months to get it in place. uh they don't

[5:50] actually start billing us until we use it in January. So everything

[5:55] leading up to that and getting it online and all the workflows there is included

[6:00] you know any questions about it for me.

[6:05] » I know this is the standard not just in the parish but even cat and stuff as

[6:11] well. Isn't and I might miss speak on this so correct me but is this something

[6:15] that's going to be mandated eventually or allegedly possibly that all

[6:20] government agencies are going to have to go to this platform? I have heard about

[6:23] that from Houston field. I know right now shadow back there using it for you

[6:29] know several things on right now that comes through a login and I think he's

[6:34] heard the same thing that eventually it may be mandated that we use it but at

[6:38] this time it's not getting ahead of the game.

[6:45] Is there any questions from the council while Mr. Gillison's up here?

[6:51] Thank you, sir. Any questions or comments from the public?

[6:58] Seeing none, council at this time, I will entertain a motion.

[7:02] » Make a motion that we accept resolution [clears throat] 21, 2025. Second.

[7:08] » Have a motion and a second. Uh, councel, at this time, please cast your votes. I

[7:13] » I

[7:18] » carries. Continuing on, we have accept or reject resolution 30 of 2025. This is

[7:23] a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute all contracts, documents, and

[7:26] instruments necessary for the top skin value drainage project improvement

[7:31] project, excuse me. Um, I I'm sure Jeremy will kind of touch

[7:37] base on this, but again, we talked about it a lot, but this is essentially giving

[7:42] me the the right sign to get this thing kicked off and going because we're right

[7:47] there on it. So, I'll let Jeremy touch on that. Council, if you have any

[7:51] questions for him in reference to this, I'm sure he'll cover that when he comes

[7:55] up here to give his uh give his briefing to us. Is there any questions or

[8:00] comments from the public in reference to this?

[8:03] » Yes, sir.

[8:08] » Do you mind coming up here real quick so we can keep it?

[8:11] » If you don't mind, sir, >> state your name and address for me,

[8:14] please. >> Uh, that's the back of my property. I

[8:17] was just concerned because I have not heard anything on this or seen any

[8:21] documentation to even ask any question. >> Okay. Um

[8:27] Mr. Huber, if you want to come up here real quick uh as well. Uh

[8:32] this is just to allow me to sign for this project, but I don't mind since

[8:35] it's in reference to it. We can we can talk about this. He'll cover this as

[8:39] well and we can also sit down and talk about it after this. But you haven't

[8:42] seen anything in reference to to what is that? The just the project itself.

[8:48] » Just the project itself because year year and a half ago they were talking

[8:54] about digging a ditch back there to alleviate the drainage. Is that part of

[8:59] it? That would have been going across my project. My property.

[9:04] » Nothing's on your property.

[9:08] We were hiding the skin and

[9:17] which is also on the town's property. >> But you're I think I know a little bit.

[9:23] » Yeah. So you're this will actually budget proof going through my property.

[9:31] And yes, this will actually improve. It's going to drop the actual water

[9:37] elevation when those particular storm water events

[9:40] come periods of the past history that we've

[9:44] had with this. >> I can tell you this, it's looking it's

[9:49] looking good and Mr. Jeremy will hit on we'll probably get a little more in

[9:52] depth for us, but we're we're right on the cusp of getting this thing going. Uh

[9:57] you you certainly would have been notified, made aware uh if it if it was

[10:01] going to be something that was impacting your property there. That might have

[10:04] been a different idea in the past, but that's not going to be in reference to

[10:07] this project. No, sir. >> I'll make a comment. They got it pretty

[10:11] solid. >> I like him, too.

[10:15] » Thank you, sir. Is there any questions or other comments from the public in

[10:19] reference to this matter? >> Any from council?

[10:26] Seeing none council, this time I will entertain a motion for resolution 30 of

[10:30] 2025. >> Make a motion to Resolution 30 of 2022.

[10:37] Second. >> I have a motion and a second. Council at

[10:40] this time, please cast your votes. >> I I

[10:46] » Continuing on, we have accept or reject resolution 31 to 2025. This is a

[10:50] resolution authorizing the advertisement for bids for the waste water treatment

[10:55] plant improvements phase 3, also contract three. Is there any questions

[11:01] or comments from the public in reference to this?

[11:06] Seeing none, is there any from the council?

[11:10] » What is this? >> So, this was this was all uh at least

[11:16] for all was except for Mr. McGee, Mr. Adams uh before us. Jeremy again

[11:21] probably is going to go over it in his but but come up here because it's a

[11:25] reference to Jeremy right now. uh this is kind of been a long project in the

[11:30] the making that I also had to codle myself.

[11:32] » So these are available these were remaining available forms from the uh

[11:36] new wastewater treatment plant and so use it or lose it. So this is an ability

[11:41] to actually use those funds and improve the old treatment plant that was

[11:45] actually not producing what it's going to. This

[11:48] right here will get the old plant back up to what it was originally supposed to

[11:51] be at in addition to doing some other small improvements around the waste

[11:56] water mainly the chlorine

[12:00] he's not having to change out 150 lb cylinders he's getting stuff that

[12:07] all is pretty simple terms Jeremy uh I spent a

[12:13] good bit of time down there we're we're sitting somewhere around a billion on

[12:16] capacity with our new Right. I'm not too far off with that and getting this one

[12:21] up and going for picking up 400 or so. >> I'll put you put you right back close to

[12:26] 1.5. >> All right. So, kind of at our uh just

[12:29] for everybody's awareness, it's kind of at peak. I've seen us operate at 60% or

[12:33] so capacity when it's up and going. So, 600,000 out of a million. If we get if

[12:38] we get this uh drop down uh by having more capacity, it's really going to set

[12:43] us up for for some of these projects knowing that all the developments coming

[12:48] to try to get ahead of >> get ahead of

[12:52] Jordan. I think this was directed at USDA

[12:55] » and that's what that's the remaining fun.

[13:05] » That's it. Thank you, sir. Is there any more questions or comments

[13:10] from the council? Seeing none council at this time, I will

[13:14] entertain a motion. Make a motion to accept resolution 31 to 2025.

[13:21] Got a motion from Commissioner McGee and a second for Mr. Shine. Council at this

[13:26] time, please cast your votes.

[13:30] » Carries. Continuing on, this will be accept

[13:34] reject resolution 32 to 2025. This is a resolution authorizing town to a

[13:38] participate in the Louisiana Asset Management Pool, also known as Lamp. Uh,

[13:44] Mr. Gillis, you can come up here if you want. I can touch base on something too

[13:48] here. Uh, this is the asset management pool that is governed and ran through

[13:53] the state. without getting too CPAish on it for you

[13:58] guys because I'm not a CPA and I don't deserve to go down that road. I would

[14:02] say the average yield on most of the accounts that we have currently uh for

[14:06] our funds is about 010%. Uh Lambs is

[14:12] 01. Uh Lambs is a uh it's through the state. It's

[14:18] 24 hours or same day. Even if you put it in early enough, you can have your funds

[14:22] transferred back to your accounts. It's a floating variable rate right now as of

[14:26] today. I just checked it five minutes before I got up here. It's 4.21%.

[14:31] So, um you can do the math on how many x more interest rate that would uh drive

[14:37] to the town in our accounts and it's 100% secure. Uh we're just trying to

[14:43] be good fiduciary members with the money that we do have on hand and giving

[14:48] something that's acrewing uh a little bit more interest while also being 100%

[14:52] secure. So, there's any comments from you, Mr. Gillis, on that

[14:56] as well. >> It's going to give us an opportunity to

[14:57] take the funds that are not needed for the day-to-day expenses and operations

[15:01] of municipality, place them in area, you know, accounts they're holding. Those

[15:06] accounts are designed for municipalities in state Louisiana. Um, and it's all in

[15:12] compliance with state law as well. So, and as well as all the investment

[15:17] strategies that they're utilizing with government funds, it's all in

[15:21] compliance. And just for clarification, I want I

[15:25] wanted to make everybody aware obviously you would have seen this if this was the

[15:29] case. We we are still doing all of our banking locally here with Bombadoo Bank.

[15:33] Uh we're simply just going to transfer some funds that uh are essentially I

[15:39] don't want to use the word excess, but have the ability to acrue interest um

[15:43] into lamps money we're not using on our dayto day,

[15:47] but it didn't operate an expense. But since the ballpark, what do you think we

[15:51] may use? Uh it's tough to tell obviously it does

[15:56] dayto day so it's floating variable you know the most I could do is if you

[16:00] looked at this year for example so forth this year um and the rate of what it's

[16:05] been this year that could be close to 200,000 roughly additional interest that

[16:09] the town could have

[16:15] the average most accounts around 01 or so I think we have one last 400 times

[16:20] that amount

[16:22] We do have a few and like I said I say that the hash rate because we do have a

[16:26] few CDs um that uh that are starting mature but uh but pretty pretty limited

[16:33] I would say 90% of our funds are sitting in almost a non-interest bearing account

[16:37] I mean minimal interest bearing >> and some some of them are restricted to

[16:40] that you know there's certain grants and funds like that that we may have set

[16:43] aside also that will not be able to be eligible because they have not

[16:49] on that grant But we're working with the CPA as well

[16:54] and making our way to them making sure that the vast majority of fun

[17:00] we'll get get some type of return on >> and I think it's same day transfers back

[17:04] to us if it's before like noon or >> yeah we can it's same day as long as you

[17:09] put the request in by noon and um it you know after working with lane and most of

[17:15] our dayto-day stuff I don't see anywhere that's hindrance on

[17:20] that it's a phone call and we're able to move it. We'll have a log in order as

[17:23] well. So, shouldn't shouldn't have any issues with operations.

[17:30] Thank you. Is there any comment from the public in

[17:34] reference to resolution 32 of 2025? Seeing none, is there any further

[17:41] comment or questions from the council? Also none. Council, this time I will

[17:46] entertain a motion. Make a motion to accept resolution 32

[17:51] 2025.

[17:55] » I have a motion and a second. Council at this time and please cast your votes.

[17:59] » I

[18:03] motion carries. >> Mr. Mayor.

[18:06] » Yes, sir. I made a copy of what you had >> included if anybody out.

[18:14] Yeah, that's and you can go to the it's actually a really user friendly website

[18:19] for anybody here that wants to look at it. Um, just for expectation management,

[18:23] keep in mind as we're on the topic of this, it is a variable it is a variable

[18:27] rate. So, we're in a pretty high interest rate environment. Um, so we

[18:31] want to capitalize on that while we can just like everybody sees their bank CDs

[18:34] looking good and things of that nature. Um, if you start seeing prime and things

[18:39] like that go down, I would expect this to trend down as well. But at the same

[18:43] time, it appears to be much more competitive than anything we have

[18:46] locally available to us. Uh being through the state here,

[18:49] » I bet it doesn't go down to 401. >> I bet it doesn't. Historically, I went

[18:54] back to 2011 and it doesn't. So, you're right. Yes, sir. [laughter]

[18:57] Did have a little bit of time to look into that. So, uh but no, the the

[19:02] website's very user friendly to look into. It's actually um

[19:07] surprised it's not widely known for municipalities around. So, good good

[19:11] deal. >> Yes. I didn't know until that. I saw

[19:14] that because I heard about the state treasurer is the president.

[19:18] » He is. >> Yep. It actually is. So, it uh it's as

[19:21] good as you can get when it comes to uh operating within the laws and rules that

[19:26] we have to operate within. So, um when we continue on council, this time we'll

[19:32] have accept or reject resolution 33 of 2025. This is resolution recognizing

[19:37] November 6th of 2025 Jack Prescott day. At this time, I will ask Coach Turner to

[19:43] come up here to the podium, please, to give a little bit more context as to why

[19:47] I'm proposing this to you all, the council uh speak a little bit about Mr.

[19:51] Prescott uh career and I would argue most importantly what he's done for the

[19:56] town as well. >> Yeah, like you said, my name is David

[19:59] Turner. I'm the athletic director at Halton High School and as many of you

[20:04] know um back built uh or made a large donation

[20:10] um to Halton High School for us to um erect the largest I guess you could say

[20:17] it's the largest we do know it is the largest video scoreboard high school

[20:22] scoreboard in the entire state of Louisiana. Um he also redid the entire

[20:28] weight room. Um and so we have a day planned. Um you know as as a

[20:34] professional athlete it's hard to get somebody to come in. Um it was hard

[20:40] getting the scoreboard and the weight room done. Um once you know we got all

[20:45] of that planned uh and done uh we wanted to dedicate the field to him and so

[20:50] we're having a special day on November the 6th, Thursday uh for him to come in.

[20:55] He I talked to him last week. He is coming in November the 6th with his uh

[21:00] fiance, their two girls, his dad and his brother Tab. And I just think it would

[21:05] be real special um to you know to kind of name that day back.

[21:12] Yeah, this is something uh we hope to be able to present to Mr. Prescott. Um just

[21:18] acknowledging, you know, not like I said, not only his career, but uh him

[21:23] him remembering his hometown and contributing back to it when he does

[21:27] come to town over the 6. And I I think coach is going to put out a little bit

[21:31] more information, but it sounds like there [clears throat] might be something

[21:34] done at the field that there'll be an opportunity to buy a pretty pretty cheap

[21:37] ticket and be able to attend and see the ceremony. Yeah, that's good.

[21:40] » Yeah, real cheap tickets. >> I know the school will put out some more

[21:43] information on that. Sounds like >> Yeah, we'll publicize that probably

[21:46] about a week and a half um before November the 6, sometime in October. Um

[21:51] you'll be able to purchase a ticket. Um come to the field dedication. Uh it's a

[21:57] lot of we got a lot of stuff planned. So it's going to be a real special night uh

[22:02] for us and him at >> this is something we wanted to get

[22:07] knocked out of this council meeting so uh we could have that um if so approved

[22:12] by the council but he'll have that present to to Dak uh getting that that

[22:16] will be before our November council meeting. Is there any questions for

[22:20] coach while he's up here for the council?

[22:25] Appreciate you, sir. >> Yes, sir. Thank you.

[22:27] » Is there any questions or comments from the public in in reference to resolution

[22:30] 33 to 2022? >> Any other questions or comments from the

[22:35] council? Seeing none, council at this time, I

[22:39] will entertain a motion. >> I'll make a motion to strongly accept

[22:43] resolution 33, 2025. >> I have a motion and a second. Council,

[22:49] this time, please cast your votes. >> I

[22:54] carries. We'll be moving on to reports at this time. Mr. Tyler Dillis, town

[22:58] administrator will come up to present.

[23:09] » Good evening. Again, uh just a couple things to go over. I just want you to

[23:12] know that one pilot so far, we do have it integrated with our maintenance crew.

[23:16] We now have uh we have three of those positions filled. the one

[23:21] still being filled with the temp right now and they're they've been getting

[23:23] after it um and it's working as planned so far. And then additionally um I've

[23:28] already met with um Spencer from the fire department and we've been working

[23:33] to get together on getting the flow path for NGO laid out. So with what y'all

[23:38] approved today, we'll be able to contact them tomorrow and start scheduling to

[23:41] get that rock and roll. Um I'm also happy to announce that on that 2526 LCD

[23:48] grant for our sewer improvements on the south side of town all the conditions

[23:51] were met for that last week. So um we will move forward into the next step of

[23:56] that tenatively uh we got the environmental review that's going to

[23:59] roll next on that and maybe over the next two months I believe for that and

[24:05] and that would get us into hopefully January to start opening up vending for

[24:09] that project. Uh we are still working in and out on

[24:13] the 26th budget and we should stuff for yall at the next council meeting as far

[24:18] as budgetary concerns go. Outside of that, Fox's got some more legal items

[24:23] that were published last week and we're letting them know of course I believe

[24:26] their 10 and 14 day stint on that. Those will be wrapping up and then Jur.

[24:35] You have any questions for me? >> No, you just hit on it first there. how

[24:40] we were uh talking about the maintenance crew. Uh and I know Jackie's Mr. Hates

[24:45] will be coming over next, but the when we had that workshop several months

[24:50] back, Jackie essentially let us all know that he was low on staffing. Uh we all

[24:55] agreed to need some help and we probably for the first time that I'm aware of

[25:01] formulated a truly dedicated maintenance crew and I can tell you firsthand, I

[25:05] know Mr. deal that testified to this. The amount of digs that we've conducted

[25:11] with our own equipment and our own personnel since we formulated that crew,

[25:16] which isn't even 100% yet, uh, a set of outsourcing has blown my mind. I mean,

[25:21] multiple multiple gigs a day, >> but a lot less invoices coming in.

[25:24] » A lot less invoices from third, you know, third party, private contractors,

[25:29] and um, >> it's it's paying for itself.

[25:32] » It is very much. >> It truly is. So, I just want getting

[25:36] accurate. >> Yeah, just want to put that out there.

[25:38] Thank you. At this time, we will have Sergeant Freeman present the police

[25:43] department report

[25:48] council. Uh for September, police department 210 calls for service, 53

[25:54] written reports, 20 external reports. Uh we just had one hit and run. You guys

[26:00] wrote 265 citations, made six massive violence calls, 26 drug

[26:06] arrest, five or 26 arrest made, five felonies, 13 drug charges, and two UWIS.

[26:15] Um during September, we had three tours of the school by special needs classes

[26:20] from the elementary school. That's always a highlight for us, probably more

[26:24] of them. [clears throat] attended the law

[26:27] enforcement day at First Baptist Church preschool at ground breaking at Galilee

[26:34] Baptist Church for their new multi-purpose building. Of course, the

[26:37] homecoming parade. Um we are working on a joint venture

[26:42] with Bon two crime cameras

[26:46] um that we would hopefully place somewhere between West Jackson and West

[26:52] McKinley on 157 to cover that side of the bank. The businesses there

[26:57] uh to give us a little bit more coverage there. Um the Axon cameras are complete

[27:02] and done. Um right now we've got two officers going

[27:08] through motorcycle certification at the school. That's kind of a big thing for

[27:12] us. Be good. And then if I just have a short window of your time. Received a

[27:17] couple of letters in the last couple weeks on some of the guys which is uh

[27:21] it's always good to see. [clears throat] This one was in reference to officer

[27:26] Edmunds says he may be a concern when I was

[27:29] recently pulled over in Harlem, Louisiana.

[27:32] Although I did receive a few tickets, I've never had such a professional kind

[27:36] of officer. I explained my situation to him uh

[27:41] [clears throat] I explained my situation to him. I

[27:44] recently entered a 13-year relationship and was down on Monday to pay bills and

[27:49] keep up with things. I appreciate the professionalism and kindness that your

[27:52] officer showed me. That was that was for offic

[28:02] [clears throat]

[28:04] 23:30. My daughter Christine made an improper turn was pulled over by HP

[28:09] officer MS. Two other Holland officers arrived as well.

[28:14] myself. Matthew was in the backseat of the car and her friend Christine was in

[28:18] the front passenger seat. Del has bad anxiety and immediately started

[28:22] panicking, grabbed the purse and started looking for her license as Mr. Mons was

[28:26] approaching. As I started to tell her to wait, he was already at the window.

[28:30] Instead of Mr. Mons panicking himself with her digging in the purse, he

[28:34] immediately noticed her anxiety and [clears throat] acted accordingly.

[28:38] Using her might calm her down enough she could focus. We all ended up outside the

[28:43] vehicle and more officers arrived on the city. They were professional and human.

[28:47] They treated us as equals while also doing their job. They listened, they

[28:51] talked, they interacted, made us all comfortable. They treated us as people.

[28:55] Not one time. Were they arrogant, nor was their badge used as them being

[29:02] better than us. Christine's anxiety turned the happiness during a period

[29:06] where it would have gotten much worse. But because Mr. the homes and uh

[29:12] uh other officers, the way they spoke to us and interacted with the common

[29:17] situation. For her first ticket, she took it pretty well and that was due to

[29:20] the way they were handling things. He was respectful, kind, and professional.

[29:24] It was my pleasure to meet such great officers and see Christ through their

[29:28] words and their actions. These guys were great, perfect examples of what law

[29:33] enforcement should be and strive for. Actually, they're the perfect example of

[29:38] what we should all pretty cool.

[29:50] » Thanks, sir.

[29:54] » Next up, we'll have Chief Holland with the Holland Fire Department.

[30:03] Uh September report, we had 65 responses.

[30:08] uh fires. On 15th, we had a vehicle fire at exit 33 off ramp. On the 16th, we

[30:16] responded to mile marker 36 on I 20 mutual aid for 18 wheeler fire. Um and

[30:22] then on the 18th, we had a structure fire at 28 20 coastal drive mutual aid

[30:29] with both fire district one as well. Public education, we had two field trips

[30:34] uh for the elementary school, one on the 19th and one on the 25th.

[30:39] Personnel 42 career, 10 parttime, 20 volunteer. Uh firefighter Leon continues

[30:46] his shadowing role with the city of Rustin. That will conclude on 102425,

[30:55] so two weeks. and then he will begin working with city hall staff as Tyler

[31:00] was talking about to prepare for the implementation for a launch date of

[31:04] January 2026 for inspections. Um he is getting very confident uh every time I

[31:11] talk to him he's more and more confident. Um I still feel confident

[31:14] about this confident about this work. Uh equipment all apparatus are in service.

[31:21] So, we had to have a valve place on the ladder truck on the 29th and tire put on

[31:26] the brush truck on the 30th. Uh, new sprint one we actually received. So,

[31:32] sprint one is in um we should be able to take ownership of that tomorrow or the

[31:37] next day. Uh the radio and lights are already in stock, so we just have to get

[31:43] it over to TCO, get that installed. Uh Nick just received the uh decal

[31:49] approved. So we'll be able to do anything right.

[31:52] » That's part of the uh that's the second F150 that you all voted on

[31:59] » uh with government capital finance we did. We finally got that second one in.

[32:03] » So that should be all the vehicles now. >> That's it. Yep. You're the last one.

[32:07] Yep. We got the P in and then you had your one outstanding F-150. That does

[32:11] it. >> So that's good. We'll get that in. uh

[32:14] training daily training continues. Uh we held two classes and instructor one

[32:19] class with 15 students and inspector one and two with five students. Um

[32:25] additional information the forestry grant has been approved. That equipment

[32:29] has been ordered. Um and then on a really really bright note

[32:35] » give me a second. Chief Palmer if you can come up here as well. I want to give

[32:39] uh uh I know which one this is and I'm very impressed. I like to have both the

[32:46] chiefs up here. I know the joint effort on this one.

[32:49] So, um we have received approval for the AFG

[32:54] grant, the assistance of firefighters grant from FEMA. Uh we have been awarded

[32:59] $230,000 in federal funds. Uh we have a cost

[33:04] match of 11,500. Um, this grant will be to replace 26

[33:10] SCBAs. Um, and we're exploring the possibility

[33:16] of piggybacking off the city of New Orleans to to purchase those. Um,

[33:21] this is the biggest this is the most difficult grant in the country when it

[33:24] comes to the fire service. Um, roughly $376 million are allocated to

[33:31] this grant. And that sounds like a lot of money. making there's 600 fire

[33:36] departments in the state of Louisiana alone. Um

[33:40] the the work that went into this this this is absolutely not that Jimmy

[33:44] Holland did this. He pat me on the back. This was a group effort. It couldn't

[33:48] have been done without Chief Palmer. Um it just continues to prove the testament

[33:54] of how well he has done and how much he has brought to the table since we made a

[33:59] decision to [snorts] bring him home. I think we're probably approaching4

[34:03] to $500,000 in grant funding and he's been here for two years. Um, so I just

[34:12] cannot stress you enough how big of a deal it is to get the AF grant and u we

[34:17] are very excited about this. We will be working at a very fast pace to get this

[34:22] accomplished as soon as the federal government opens back up uh because it's

[34:27] their money again. Um, so >> and just a heads up, we will need y'all

[34:33] for a couple of things. Um, resolutions to piggy back off of New

[34:39] Orleans if we end up going that route. Um,

[34:43] so it's like we did with Shreport for the

[34:47] bunker gear and to follow the RF statute, there's just some mandatory

[34:52] documentation that we'll have to bring before y'all to to appease the auditors

[34:56] when they come in. So, uh, we'll be we'll be working this year to get this

[35:00] started. It'll obviously be next year before all this comes in. Uh,

[35:06] we won't request the funding until the equipment is in because once they give

[35:11] us that federal funding, we have to distribute it within 30 days or we have

[35:15] to start paying interest on the funds. So, uh, that'll be a 2026 expenditure.

[35:21] So, we're talking about budget. So, that'll be on. So, this is this is

[35:26] something that both the Chiefs here did on their own. I don't know if they just

[35:31] thought maybe they weren't going to get it, so they didn't say much about it to

[35:34] me or they wanted to be surprised. But, I did some looking into uh into it. It's

[35:39] a uh yeah, it's it's it's a big deal. You know, very easy simple simpleton

[35:45] terms. It's a it's a big deal. So, that's that's strong work on that one

[35:50] from both of you. >> And that's all I have. How long again?

[35:54] » Two of them. I rounded it. It's a little over 230,000 in federal and 11,000 in

[36:00] RI. >> Pretty good cost match. It's pretty

[36:03] good. >> Yeah, because we are in the FEMA mind a

[36:07] rural community, we only have a 5% match, which is fantastic. So that's a

[36:14] the matching is such a big deal because uh especially as you trickle up in those

[36:19] projects amount when you get to your 26 30% match or even a 50% match I mean

[36:25] even for somebody our size it's such a great deal but it's still burdensome on

[36:29] the municipality and to to get something out of 5% like that that's

[36:33] » we will end up having to surplus the old uh air packs. Uh the company we're

[36:39] looking at purchasing these through will discard those for us. Um

[36:43] » which is mandatory. >> It's mandatory. It's part of the grant.

[36:46] We can't sell them. We can't do that. We got to get rid of them.

[36:49] » I mean that's something that's a dated doesn't even I mean we're to the point

[36:52] where we should probably be >> firehawks

[36:55] firehalts is what we got. We still got some old trunks laying around too. So

[36:59] we'll be able to get rid of all of that. These big ones. Yeah. We got some old

[37:03] stuff. So it's a big deal. had a head full of hair when they used

[37:09] » probably. >> It was

[37:12] that was back when you rode on a tail board uh

[37:16] » on the back. >> Yeah, on the back.

[37:20] » That's all I got. Any question? >> I I do. So, what about the when

[37:24] firefighter Leon comes in, are we still sending the other gun?

[37:28] » Yeah, we're we're discussing that. We We absolutely have the ability to do that.

[37:32] Um, and I think with firefighter Leon on staff trained as well and he's going to

[37:36] be able to shadow with firefighter Leon as well. Uh, but I absolutely would like

[37:41] to find time to send him probably more to Rustin. Uh, because Rustin

[37:46] is more like Hall Street was great. I'm not I thank them for everything they

[37:51] did, but they operate differently. You know, they have an electrical inspector,

[37:55] they have a plumbing inspector. Um, Rustin's like the one-stop shop like

[37:59] what we're trying to go to. may have been so hospitable. Both of them have,

[38:03] but um >> and they would put Spencer with an

[38:07] electrical inspector and that's all he would see for 2 weeks and he's like, I

[38:13] really need to see some HVAC and I really need to see, you know, but

[38:16] Rustin, they do everything just like he's going to have to do everything. So,

[38:21] so let me ask you this. When he gets certified,

[38:25] is there anything to keep him from going somewhere else?

[38:28] » His pension. Um he he is that's one thing that the fire department offers

[38:34] that you know uh they're in MS over there and MS is a government pension but

[38:40] it can't compete with firefighting. Um and he still has

[38:46] five years before he was vested in FRS. So he would have a have a tough decision

[38:51] to make to walk away from a pension. Um I don't think that that's his intention.

[38:57] Um he's a Halton guy. Um so is Sean. >> Yeah.

[39:01] » So um you know and we did that you know not only to to have two guys in

[39:08] case we grew but also to have a redundancy in case that situation

[39:13] situation ever came to fruition to where we had a backup plan. And we may look in

[39:17] the future to send another guy to get this done. you know, once once the

[39:21] revenues start to come in and um you know, we're starting to see green

[39:26] instead of red, then we can discuss, all right, let's invest in somebody else and

[39:31] get somebody else, right? Um and it's setting these guys up when they retire

[39:35] as well. any one of these guys, you know, what we've done for what they're

[39:38] doing for us is great, but what we're doing for them is when they do retire at

[39:42] 20, 25 years at 45, 50 years old, they have another profession sitting right

[39:48] there. They're ready to go into it's it's a win-win situation for everybody.

[39:53] Um, and you know, they'll be at captain's pay, uh, Spencer, captain,

[39:58] even though it's not captain, it will be officer pay. Um, so he he's not we

[40:04] always need to pray more, but he he will absolutely see a pay home doing this as

[40:08] well. All right. He'll still have firefighting obligations. So, um, he

[40:12] will have to respond structural fire alarms. So, he continue to receive state

[40:16] supplemental pay as well.

[40:21] Any other questions or comments from the council?

[40:25] » Good job. Appreciate y'all both. >> Thank you. You're welcome.

[40:30] Next up, we'll have Mr. Hicks with the public works fun.

[40:42] Um, I guess we'll just go over the the digs.

[40:48] The maintenance has really been doing. They've done more than I mean, what I

[40:54] can put down here, they're averaging one to three digs pretty much a day.

[40:58] Um the amount of money we are water we have saved in this town by fixing these

[41:04] lines is tremendous. We are fixing 2 in lines, one inch lines and it's just

[41:11] every every movement in this town we do we say. So it's it's definitely helping

[41:15] our waters. Um it's just helping all around that they ain't got to call

[41:20] somebody in come out and do it for us because we didn't have the time and

[41:25] [clears throat] they're real good. plays are real good

[41:28] by learning. I can go out there and I can show them how to do it and they know

[41:32] it after I I tell them they they can repeat it. So, they're doing real good

[41:36] at that. I'm real proud of what they're doing. I was going to go into some digs,

[41:41] but there's just more than I can really tell you. I mean, it's just that many.

[41:46] Um the the cutting grass, they are still cutting grass when they have any type of

[41:51] downtime. They were up on East Mass and Jackson uh McKinley. I got Blaze on

[41:57] sideb. He's doing good with it now. So, uh we're proud of him and that the

[42:04] equipment repair this month has been fairly [clears throat] good. Um we had a

[42:09] 60-inch X mark we had to go get repaired. Uh the cap the boom on the cap

[42:14] was repaired and we had just like the sewer plant a transfer switch was

[42:18] installed and sort of thing. Other than that, they just been working.

[42:23] So, that's really all it is. They're just Y'all can see the digs everywhere.

[42:26] We got holes everywhere. >> It's not going unnoticed. It's like I've

[42:31] had people come up to me and say, "This is the best the tunnels in 20 years."

[42:34] » They are really I mean, I have some things in there. These guys are up their

[42:39] neck and mud and water trying to fix this stuff. So, they're doing good.

[42:43] » Talk to them that same thing. See the see the changes. We appcate

[42:51] So wait for a long time. I've been waiting for

[42:56] help. >> Yeah. So that's why I got why I have

[42:58] some pics up here. Some other things uh uh we're starting to work on. We just

[43:03] about got personnel to where we need it. We're still we're still probably a

[43:07] person shy on that. Um it's been we kind of had expectations of how many people

[43:13] it would take to run. We knew we were under staff, but you're always kind of

[43:16] guessing how many it's actually going to take to run it. But what's been what's

[43:19] been very functional to see is we're bringing on one good guy at a time and

[43:24] our guesstimate was right when it came to we probably need four in the

[43:27] maintenance and that probably makes us pretty whole. Uh me and Jackie and uh

[43:32] Jonathan, our new maintenance supervisor, we uh we've sat down now for

[43:36] budget season to kind of look at some equipment needs obviously to keep them,

[43:40] you know, we got the people and then what do we need equipment to keep them

[43:43] functional and so that's something you all will be uh presented with as we kind

[43:47] of look at the numbers. There's a there's a few pieces of equipment, you

[43:51] know, we want to invest in that's going to uh make us even more functional in

[43:56] what we're doing and really in turn keep more we keep in house. It it saves

[44:01] everybody saves everybody and and time money and time.

[44:04] » Well, we're also we're on fixing day of 123 fire hydrants has to be done.

[44:10] » Yeah. So, we're on that. So, it's just dig after dig every day. So you'll see

[44:17] it. That's right. We appreciate that. Next up, we have the NBC director

[44:34] PC met. We did not have any cases by the time.

[44:40] So it was business meeting. We presented the proposed budget.

[44:45] 26 approved last night. Actually, uh the budget was raised uh a mere

[44:54] $1,000 because of the new fee schedule and what

[44:59] the fees that we're proposing next year. The amount to the town and parish is

[45:05] going to go down $2,000 if our fees projection is correct. So this budget

[45:11] was approved and now it will be sent to the police jury and the town for the

[45:16] final approval. We also uh had proposed fee changes and

[45:24] they were adopted last night. There was a lot of things we were doing here that

[45:28] wasn't charged for and we adjusted those fees. So we are projecting quite a

[45:35] increase in our fees overall. uh we put a fee on site plan and as of yesterday

[45:42] we had done 80 site plans this year in the town. So uh we're expecting quite a

[45:49] bump in those results in our overall feed. We also approved the 2026

[45:57] calendar. Uh the dates the second Monday say the same for the NPC meeting. The

[46:05] second policy will be the board of ad being if needed. So that was a pretty

[46:12] another thing that was talked about last night uh the parish uh back in August uh

[46:18] placed a moratorum on developments in the parish and the uninorporated areas.

[46:25] This is not applying to Benton or Hton uh city limits

[46:32] and the parish wanted to place more tournament until a study could be done

[46:40] and develop ordinances and procedures for use development. The good thing is

[46:46] we're going to benefit from this study that they're doing. Even though the town

[46:52] of all kind of business has not got more when this is complete should be about

[46:58] eight or nine months since this study will complete and we will all

[47:02] participate to in the study. We're going to benefit from the ordinance policy

[47:08] procedure and the criteria for bringing a HUD into town. So, we're going to

[47:15] benefit uh there the RFP they put out, they didn't get the one response

[47:22] from a South Louisiana company. Uh they were requested to put out a second time

[47:27] was the same response, the same company. So the parish accepted that company to

[47:33] do the study. It's going to start rather quickly. Uh we'll be participating. Uh I

[47:38] can't tell you right now if there uh who all be participating.

[47:44] Uh but we will keep you up to date on the participation. Uh and I'm sure as we

[47:50] got further along there'll be probably more people participating in the study

[47:55] and we'll be able to develop our polic procedures according to this study.

[48:04] Is there any questions?

[48:09] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[48:13] » Next up, we'll have Merry Fire Engineering.

[48:32] So, as the uh one of your items on item five on the new business was for the

[48:38] thought value drainage project as the mayor mentioned. Um

[48:44] and I think Tyler also mentioned ERR is actually in the advertising process.

[48:49] Seemed like that ERR kind got off in the ruts for a while but it's finally moving

[48:54] forward. I think everybody's happy at that. So just to give you a quick update

[48:57] on that one. Uh the RR is expected to be done I think this month or November. So

[49:02] that means then once that's done then you can move into the next phase which

[49:07] is the rightway and servitudes. Uh so that's expected timelinewise November

[49:13] December and then hopefully advertise for bids will be in the January February

[49:18] range and then commencing construction sometime around May and completion where

[49:24] can improvements will be sometime in December of 2026.

[49:30] A lot of work going on there, but those improvements will definitely

[49:35] uh the next item was wastirewater treatment plant that we're going to be

[49:39] advertising. It's actually going in the first advertisements going in the paper

[49:43] tomorrow. U get that one done and then we'll receive

[49:49] bids uh on November 13th and then the December meeting will be awarded the

[49:56] contract and construction will start in the first

[49:59] quarter. Uh as Tyler mentioned also on the LCBG

[50:07] project for the sewer rehab that the plans are are submitted for for review

[50:13] through agency review. I'm not sure how long that'll take. I'm assume probably

[50:17] 45 to 60 days.

[50:21] » Is there any update on the uh elevated the tank project. Jeremy, I know we I

[50:27] know I think y'all had some correspondence with the uh which I know

[50:32] Keith runs a lot of point on this and Tucker, but y'all had some

[50:34] correspondence I think with the tank manufacturer. Um

[50:41] » I actually have some sanity here for your colors on your tank colors.

[50:57] I know they've had some uh struggles with

[51:02] » what was the foundation? >> Yeah, the the foundation

[51:07] project wise, just everybody's awareness. We're glad to see both of

[51:10] them going, but 3227 project going on in the same time with this in

[51:16] the same same area has been >> a lot of different contractors moving

[51:20] around doing a lot of things and they're definitely impacting the timing was

[51:23] hoping to get that done before, but the state started a little bit earlier than

[51:27] anticipated on getting the road done, which is not a bad problem. It's just

[51:31] » it wasn't anticipated at the time.

[51:41] I know it's broken out a bunch of different days.

[51:46] » Yeah, I have that. >> I want to say it's not it's not pushed

[51:52] back, but it's maybe a couple.

[52:01] Any other questions or comments from the council?

[52:18] I'm >> sure they charge for the same one if you

[52:21] want. >> You sure?

[52:21] » Yeah. >> Don't for

[52:27] no problem. >> Thank you, sir.

[52:32] » Uh Mr. Irwin, do you have any announcements to make, sir?

[52:34] » No, sir. Madam clerk?

[52:38] » No. >> Uh, any announcements from any council

[52:41] members that they'd like to make?

[52:46] » Uh, not really business, but the county is a lot of y'all know my mom served up

[52:51] here for many years. Council mayor, today her 90th birthday.

[53:00] » Um, 3227. I'm sure some folks uh up here and have gotten some some calls on it.

[53:09] Um that uh I've been in talks with DOD and

[53:14] Senator Bass and we actually had the uh Mr. James Sharpley with Ben Brown sit

[53:20] down with us that that lane closure that I think they put out to March. Was it

[53:26] Tyler? Was it Marid March? Something to that effect. Um it doesn't really make

[53:32] sense cuz you look what they have shut down right now. That's a multiplephase

[53:35] closure until it's 100% operational. I just kind of want to clear the the air

[53:39] on that. Um because they're doing tying in and deleting roadways. So just for

[53:43] the record putting that out there um it was a little confusing because everybody

[53:47] thought that one section of road was going to be closed down arbitrarily for

[53:51] months at a time, but that's not the case. They're they're breaking up into

[53:54] multiple phases and uh they're rolling on it. So we're hoping for good weather

[53:57] on that because it's going to be good for the town and and good for those

[54:00] businesses located in that area. So uh if there's no other announcement from

[54:05] » Yes, sir. One thing nothing about the town. I want to kind of give a hat tip

[54:10] my hat. Thank you. Ner was last Thursday and the ones that showed up the police

[54:17] and fire and everything that showed have direct traffic. There's a lot of people

[54:21] showed up. I thought family noticed one thing.

[54:24] » Yes, sir. Yes sir. >> Uh council at this time is there any

[54:29] objection to during this meeting? >> No objection.

[54:32] » No objection.

[54:41] » [laughter]

September 14, 2025 Regular Council Meeting

Transcript